Jail Bird
by Tookietookietookie
Summary: Ian Howe is in an American Jail, and he is not being looked after well. MacGregor searches for an old friend and collegue so that Ian can be freed before it is too late.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Mathilda Aaron glanced up from her newspaper at the sound of a car pulling up outside her house; she then glanced at her watch, 11.45. Why would someone be here so late?

She stood up and walked to her bedroom, she pulled out her .45 shot gun and made sure it was loaded, then she hid it in the back of her jeans, she was paranoid, jail had made her paranoid of everything.

The knock on the door was load and demanding, she jumped, even though she was expecting it, she shook her head and calmed herself down; her short blonde hair with chunky black streaks bared her neck, showing a tattoo of a fox under her right ear.

She sighed, cracked her neck, and opened the front door.

"Macgregor? What are you doing here?" she asked in a surprised voice, she dropped back into her native Irish lilt at the sight of one of her old co-workers.

He gave a small smile and gestured through the door,

"Can I come in Mat? It may take awhile." He sounded somber and slightly melancholy, she nodded and let him in, a quick glance around outside, and she shut the door behind him.

After organizing some drinks, she sat opposite him on her table and placed her pistol on the table.

"God Macgregor, you scared me half to death, I thought it was someone coming to try and kill me again, and I'm a little out of practice." She laughed and shook her head,

"So what brings you here?" he sighed a took a sip of his drink,

"Its Ian, he's in gaol and we need someone to help get him out. You're the best so we came to you." Mathilda stared at him in shock,

"Macgregor, you know I am not going to help, he left me to rot in prison three years ago, why the hell should I help him now? How many years he got in there?" She shook her head stubbornly; Macgregor sighed and ran a hand across his tired eyes.

"He won't make it out, he stole the Declaration of Independence, and the guards are rather patriotic, they're going to beat him to death if we don't bust him out of there.

He knows nothing about me coming to you. He said he is going to tough it out but it isn't going to work Mat, I know its not. Please Mat; you're the only one who can get him out."

Mathilda refused once more,

"No." was her flat reply,

"What about Shawn? He was pretty good at that stuff."

"Shawn is dead Mat, look, you busted your dad out so surely you can get Ian out. He did try to get you out of Jail but then he got a lead on the Mason's Treasure so he had to leave that and go after the treasure, he thought you'd understand." Mathilda looked up and sighed, she nodded her head,

"Okay, fine, I'm guessing that file contains all that you know, so just leave it with me and I'll figure it out." Macgregor nodded and left Mathilda to think about how she was going to get Ian out. She opened the file, on top was a photo of Ian just before he had been omitted, his face as smug and arrogant as usual, she smiled and ran a hand over his face,

"Oh Ian, what have you gotten yourself into now?" she murmured, she smiled and remembered all the fun they had had together, and how she had met him, six years before hand at University.

She had been only 22, and in her last year of her double Medicine and Surgery Degree, Ian had been there to give a business lecture to some of the business students.

As Mathilda walked across the café towards the counter, she saw Ian out of the corner of her eyes; a well built handsome man, with a charming aura. She found it difficult to tear her eyes off him, something unusual for her. He was wearing black dress pants, a blue striped shirt with no tie and a black jacket. Mathilda could tell that he was a great deal older than she was; he was in his late twenties to early thirties.

As she turned away, Ian looked up and skimmed the room, amazingly enough, Mathilda drew his attention almost as much as he drew hers. Ian smiled and sat back in his chair. He studied her from afar, she was a student, a beautiful girl, with a clean fresh face, with short blonde hair, streaked with even lighter blonde through out. Her green eyes sparkled with intelligence, curiosity, and mischievousness. His eyes then traveled down her thin, muscular body, an athlete, he deducted with a chuckle. He noted her clothes and marked that she was very confident and independent, she wore skintight ¾ black jeans, and a black racer back singlet, the front of which was decorated with a silver grinning skull, she wore a black leather belt with a large skull belt buckle. Irresistible in his eyes. He stood and walked over to the counter and waited behind her in the line.

Mathilda glanced over her shoulder to see who had lined up behind her; she saw Ian watching her and smiled,

"Hello, are you new here?" she asked, knowing that he wasn't but it was the only way she could think to start a conversation,

"No, I am giving a lecture in business, a favour for an old friend, my name is Ian Howe." He held out his hand she shook it firmly,

"Mathilda Aaron, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you too Mathilda, do you have someone you are sitting with?" she shook her head,

"Well, I have a spare seat at my table, if you would like", she agreed.

That was how Mathilda and Ian's relationship had begun.

When she had finished her degree she had joined with Ian to help him with his business, even though they were of, 'questionable legality.' To begin with, she had just been another 'team member', but as the years passed and her skills and friendship with Ian evolved, she had become his second in command, his favourite. Her medicinal knowledge had come in handy many times, and she was a quick learner and was brilliant at solving problems such as breaking into tight security locations. Then the day that ended up putting her in gaol had come around, she smiled at the memory of the night before, Ian and herself had been going over the plans one last time, it was full proof, as long as no one warned the police, there was no way that it could go wrong. At eleven, Ian had left, but before he did, he did something that still surprised Mathilda to this day. As he was leaving he had turned around to face her, a smile on his face, Mathilda had turned her head slightly to the side in a question, her mouth slightly open as she was about to speak when he had kissed her, his lips had caressed hers. A soft, loving kiss, short, yet full of love and emotion. Then he had pulled back, stroked her cheek and left. The next day, whilst they were getting ready to leave the building with the stolen goods, the alarms had started to ring; they had been ratted out, so they fled. Mathilda was the quickest, she darted ahead of them all, which resulted in her being caught, she had turned the corner and run smack into the waiting police. Her annoyed curse had saved the others from prison. But not her. Luckily, for her, the double crosser had only dealt with her; he had been there weapons supplier. She had spent the next three years in gaol. Hopeful each day that that day would be the day that Ian would come and rescue her on, but that day never came. She was let out 18 months early on good behaviour, her respect and affection for Ian was gone. She never wanted, nor planned on seeing him again, now she had just agreed to save him from the fate that he had left her in.

She frowned as she looked through the sheets in front of her; the gaol was a new complex, one she hadn't visited before. Mathilda cursed, she would have to see the gaol as a visitor, which means she would have to see Ian.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Ian woke up to a guard yelling at him,

"Get up Mr. Howe. You have a visitor; how an arse like yourself ended up with a piece of meat that hot I don't know. She's a hot one that wife of yours." Ian tried not to act surprised, he ran over the names of all the women he knew that would be able to break him out of gaol he came out with one, Mathilda.

"Damn straight she is, and she wouldn't touch someone like you with a ten foot pole!"

Ian was lead out into the visitors room, standing behind a chair, waiting impatiently, was a beautiful lady with long blonde hair wearing a amazing summer dress, and a large pair of Gucci sunglasses, when she saw Ian she smiled and walked over, Ian stared at her legs and dragged his eyes up to her face.

He jogged forward and wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her hard,

"Ian, hey." She said, close to tears as she leant her face into his chest. He smiled and wiped the tears of her soft cheeks,

"Hey Mathilda, I'm so sorry." He whisper and choked out the words, Mathilda smiled; she could tell that he meant it.

"No problems, Macgregor explained it all to me." Ian kissed her again,

"Aye you two! Knock it off! You can't do that in here! Sit down!" yelled one of the guards, Mathilda pulled a face and kissed Ian's cheek before sitting down.

They sat in silence, just looking at each other.

"I've missed you." Ian said, breaking the silence first. Mathilda nodded,

"And I you. Look Ian, I need to go, but I will come back and see you again, I promise." She smiled and stood, still holding his hand, she squeezed it and turned to leave, but he did not let her go, he pulled her back into him and kissed her hand.

"See you soon." He let her hand go, and watched her leave. The guard then led him back to his cell.

Mathilda walked out of the gaol, tears in her eyes, she hopped into her convertible, and wiped away her crocodile tears. She never cried about men, they were not worth it. She revved the engine and roared out of the prison car park once she was on the high way she pulled of her wig and bit her lip, she had now seen the prison, and she knew exactly how she would get Ian out.

Back in his cell, Ian flopped onto his bunk and stared at the roof, a smile on his face. He ran his hands over his chin and shook his head. Even though she was wearing a wig, he could see the changes in her face, she was more mature and even more beautiful, which he did not think could have been possible.

He wished that he had been able to get her out of gaol. He had tried, but without her, his brain had seemed to not work as well as before, his ideas never came, his temper had become shorter and he had ended up getting so frustrated at how his life had began falling apart with out her that he forced himself to forget about her. Even with that attitude, he was thrilled that she was back in his life. She may be his weakness, but without her, he did not feel whole. He doubted that she was so dependent on him, but he was sure that she liked him back, even if it was only a little. He sighed and remembered all of the jobs they had spent time on together. He chuckled as he remembered the occasion in New Jersey when the pair of them had faked being a married couple so that they could gain information on the transportation of a large jewelry shipment, which they were going to heist.

"I can not believe you talked me into this Ian, I look more like your younger sister, or daughter even, rather than you're wife." Ian laughed and glanced across at Mathilda as they drove up the driveway to the large expensive hotel, where the jewelry convention was being held.

"I am not that old, thank you very much. I'm only nine years older than you, now that's a damn young father if you ask me." Mathilda laughed bitterly and checked her appearance in the mirror,

"Yes, but you see, you are so not lucky enough to have a girl like me." She smiled a triumphant smug smile, which vanished immediately after Ian's reply of-

"But Mathilda, I do have you. Why else do I live with you, see you everyday, have you cook some of my meals, fetch me snacks and coffee, massage my back and." He laughed and stopped as they pulled up to the valet parking. The valet walked up to the car and opened the doors for them,

"Hello sir, jewelry convention?" Ian nodded,

"I shall have the boys take in your luggage, please see the man over there for your room number and convention times." Ian had nodded and handed the valet a crisp fifty dollar note,

"Thank you my lad." Mathilda and he then walked up to the front door of the hotel, both dressed in designer clothes, Ian wearing a gold and diamond tie piece, rings, expensive watch. While Mathilda was dripping in exclusive and dazzling diamonds and gold.

"Hello sir, name please." Said the door man,

"James Harlot." Replied Ian, in a crisp upper class British accent, the door man checked the list and marked him off,

"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Harlot, here is your key, you are in room 345, on the third floor, overlooking the ocean as requested, and here is a list of the convention times and events. If you need any assistance with anything, do not hesitate to call, you have a personal assistant on line 06." The man then clicked his fingers and the luggage boys had rushed ahead with their luggage.

"Have a good day."

Ian nodded his head and lead Mathilda off to the elevator. The convention lasted all day after a formal dinner with the people who knew about the pick up and drop off points, Ian and Mathilda, or James and Lucinda Harlot, retired to their rooms.

All up the whole job went well, they stole the jewelry, sold it into the black market, and didn't get caught.

That had been their first job together without the others; it was the beginning of many.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

When Mathilda arrived back at her house, the first thing she did was have a shower. She scrubbed ruthlessly at her hands and arms, trying to rid the scent, smell, and feeling of gaol off her skin. She stood under the water until it went cold, at which stage she reluctantly stepped out and began scrubbing at her body with a towel, she stopped when her skin was red from irritation and changed into a pair of jeans and a navy singlet. Mathilda then heated up left over spaghetti and took out her laptop and the books she had hired out about the gaol that Ian was in and set up her workstation, this was not going to be a hard job, it would be the first job she had ever done without Ian by her side helping her. She shook the negative thoughts out of her head, sat cross-legged on the chair, and began researching for blue prints of the gaol, electrical, pluming, air ducts, anything, and everything. Unfortunately, she would need it all to get Ian, and herself, out alive.

Mathilda was woken at one the next day by the phone ringing; she sat up and swiped at her bleary eyes. She had fallen asleep at the computer, the masses of paperwork and blueprints around her spilt to the floor as she stumbled up and fell over as her numb leg gave way. She scrambled forward and grabbed the phone,

"Hello Mathilda Aaron speaking," she answered, and then turned her mouth away from the receiver as she yawned,

"Hey Mathilda, its Ian here, how are you honey?" Mathilda pulled a face and mouth obscenities into the phone,

"I'm fine sweetie, look how are you going in there? Is something wrong? Is that why you've rung me?" she attempted to be subtly about how enthusiastic she was to be talking to him; she was worried that too much communication with Ian would make his escape seem highly suspicious.

"I just wanted to hear your voice actually, I have three hours of calls that I haven't used so I decided to use it to you now. So how is the pooch?" Mathilda pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the earpiece, then it clicked,

"Pooch, he's great actually, he is really coming along with all of his obedience work, when you are released you shall see how well he's doing, he's out chasing birds at the moment."

She could not believe that he was using the code from one of their earliest jobs; Pooch was the code name for plan, so she had just told him that the plan to free him was going really well and that she was nearly finished, it would be carried out in a few days.

"Look honey, I need to go, be careful in there, I'll try and visit you again next week sometime, alright? Whenever I get time off from work, okay?"

"Okay then, well have a good time, I miss you, and I hope to see you soon babe. Bye I love you." Ian said before hanging up. He removed his ear from the phone before he could hear her response to the heart felt 'I love you.'

Mathilda stared at the phone in shock, then she shook her head and hung up, Ian had always been a brilliant liar and actor, that sometimes when he was going along with a job, she almost was carried away in his persona and believed what he said. She looked at her watch and thought for a moment, as she glanced at the huge pile of papers she made up her mind. Mathilda pulled off her jeans, flopped onto the bed, and fell fast asleep. Whenever there was something to do with Ian, she became exhausted from lack of sleep and too much thinking.

She slept for two hours, and when she woke she went straight back to working on the plan to free Ian. He always seemed to consume so much of her time when he was around. Yet, as frustrating and annoying as she found him, she couldn't refuse him, and not having him around made life much more dull. Macgregor had once stated to Mathilda that Ian was obsessed and addicted to her, and that she was just as obsessed and addicted to him. Without each other, they seemed to think that there was no point to working or living, unless it somehow benefited the other. That statement alone had made her uncomfortable but the other statement of Macgregor's had been even worse. During their second last job Mathilda had been badly injured, she still had two hideous scars; she had ended up in hospital in ICU, unconscious and close to slipping into a coma. Ian had been on the verge of completing one of the largest bank heists in history, but he had stopped, and instead spent his time by Mathilda's bed, holding her hand and making sure that she didn't die. According to the boys, Mathilda was Ian Howe's one weakness, therefore she would one day be his downfall, she would be the cause of his demise and possible even his death.

That thought scared her to the core, yet Macgregor was not one to tell stories about anyone, least of all about Ian. So unfortunately, Mathilda knew there had to be some truth in the statement.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Machine gunfire sounded, Mathilda and Ian fell to the ground, and Mathilda glanced at Ian and froze. His chest was not moving; blood was pooling around him and forming a sticky puddle on the floor of her living room. The rescue attempt had failed. He was dead.

Mathilda walked into the bathroom and threw up. The day was warm and muggy. Mathilda felt as though she was wading in her own sweat since there was so much humidity. However, that was not why she was throwing up. Today was the day she had organized to free Ian from gaol on, and she was nervous, in fact, she was scared to death.

Mathilda brushed her teeth and gurgled mouthwash for the fifth time that morning. She had a whole day to patronize and think of all the things that could go wrong. In particular, the last vivid image of her dream from last night scared her the most.

She had dreamt the whole rescue; the ending however, was what had upset her. She and Ian had gotten safely to her house, they were celebrating with drinks when machine gun fire had scattered through the house. Ian and her fell to the ground for protection, the gunfire had ceased, she had heard evil, heartless laughs and someone spitting on the ground. Mathilda glanced at Ian and froze, his eyes were glassy, staring straight ahead, his chest was still, blood soaking through his clothing and covering the floor. That was when she had woken up, but the image refused to leave her mind.

Mathilda leant against the basin staring in the mirror, trying to think of a different solution to the one that her mind was presenting to her.

'I shouldn't, its bad for me, and I swore not to anymore. I've quit.' She muttered, a small voice in her head retaliated,

"Precisely, you are not addicted, and there is no other way that you can calm down, and you need to be calm during this rescue, you have enough for three shots, one now, one at lunch, and one an hour before you go and save Ian. Is it worth risking his life for something as petty as you couldn't handle calming yourself down?" she shook her head and bit her bottom lip. Mathilda looked into the mirror and saw the image of Ian's dead body, blood pooling around it. She decided to use what little she had left.

Mathilda walked into her broom closet and opened the secret cupboard in the back of it, she pulled out what she needed and shut it again. Mathilda put her gear on the table and checked the yard to make sure no one was around to interrupt. When she was sure that they were not, she sat on the lounge and tied a belt tightly around her upper arm, so that her vein was easy to see. With that, she took the cap off the needle and injected the drug into her. It eased her mind immediately. She flopped back on the lounge and closed her eyes as she floated in and out of reality. She barely remembered to undo the belt around her arm. She smiled, trying to think about why she had quit, then she remembered. It had been for Ian.

"Oh Christ Mathilda, not again, give me that shit, here the needle, and the bottle, Ahh you're a fucking mess Mat." Ian said as he snatched the gear off Mathilda and threw it into the bin, Mathilda stared at him,

"You fucking bastard, that's expensive crap that is, give it back." Ian slapped her hard,

"No, look Mathilda, this isn't good for you. You're killing yourself by doing this. Please stop, please?" Mathilda looked at his face and started to laugh; he sighed and shook his head.

"You been smoking crack as well Mat? Why am I even asking, I can smell the alcohol on you, Ahh here we are what's this bottle say, Rum, oh and this one is Vodka, oh and a Guinness as well, oh Mathilda you're a bloody mess." Mathilda had sunken into the couch and was just sitting there watching him contently.

Ian shook his head,

"Come on, get up Mat." She attempted but as soon as she did, the world began to spin and twirl, her head became light, and her eyelids felt like lead. Her body collapsed and she fell back onto the couch.

"Ah shit." Ian cursed as he knocked over the table, sending the rest of her gear flying; Mathilda was too far gone to notice at this stage.

Ian picked Mathilda up in his arms and carried her into his bedroom. She was the only one of his crew to live with him, she usually slept in the loft bedroom, but he wanted to keep an eye on her in this state. He gently placed Mat onto the bed and tried to think of how to remove her shirt, it was very tight, and he doubted that it would be healthy to sleep in. He sighed and took of her shoes and socks first, then he, as gently as possible removed her shirt and jeans. A cool breeze caused Mathilda to roll over and snuggle into the blankets that she lay on. Ian picked her up again, threw back the blankets, and lay her down. He then walked over to his cupboard, pulled out a large old shirt off his, and put it on her, then with his hand under her shirt he removed her restricting bra. Ian placed her clothes over the chair and watched Mathilda squirm as she tried to get comfortable. He hated seeing her like this, she wasn't the only one of his crew to do drugs and drink, but seeing her like this affected him badly, probably because it had been her intelligence that had captivated him the most about her, in this state, she had none. Another cold breeze entered the room and caused goose bumps to rise over Mathilda's bare legs, Ian sighed and pulled the feather blankets over her and kissed her neck.

"Sleep well Mat." He murmured and walked back into the lounge room, where he cleaned up all of Mathilda's junk and threw it out. He would stop her using, it would be hard, but he had to stop her.

Ian had stopped her from using; he had stayed by her side through the worst and best of it too. Now, in order to save him, she was going back and doing what he did not want her to do.

It was five when Mathilda awoke to her chock chiming. She yawned and stretched, her bleary eyes focused on her gear on the table. She shook her head, ashamed with herself. She packed it up and put the rest of it away. It was time to get ready to go and rescue Ian.


End file.
